Lifting the coconut shell

Well, I am back from my holidays. I started teaching at UIA in January 2010, about six months ago. So what do I want to do with this blog in the future? Here are my thoughts

1. Softskills are still important because they form a key aspect of the Knowledge - Skills - Attitude that makes people employable

2. The 'hard part' of softskills (understanding processes, mapping processes, developing a systems perspective) is still a major focus. That can only be mastered once the basic softskills have been acquired

3. The ultimate aim though is to make UIA students feel optimistic about their future by helping them remove the cocunut shell that some people are trying to hide under. That is why I have included some news items about some of the economic problems in Europe. We are so used to seeing problems in our own countries that we forget that the problems in other countries - countries that look like they are more successful - are sometimes worse.

During my holiday, I met some old friends. One of them asked me why I left Europe and moved to Malaysia. I explained that, in my opinion, Europe is in a process of decay. Things are 'falling apart' whether politically, economically or socially. Malaysia, on the other hand, is a society that is in the process of being built. Yes, there are many things that are lacking. But there is a big difference between lacking something because your house is falling down and lacking something because your house is not yet completely finished. There was no disagreement from my friends about my opinion.